


Vena Amoris

by CelestialVoid



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Comfort, Domestic Fluff, Established Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal, No Smut, One Shot, Romantic Fluff, Star Gazing, Stressed Stiles, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-13
Updated: 2017-02-13
Packaged: 2018-09-23 23:37:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9687512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CelestialVoid/pseuds/CelestialVoid
Summary: They promised no presents; they knew they didn’t need cheap chocolates, cliché hearts or red roses that would die in a day to know that they loved each other. But still, Stiles tried to surprise Derek for Valentine’s Day and it worked, up until it didn’t. But none of that matters to Derek.





	

Derek pulled the Camaro into the lot, gliding into his usual space and parking the car. He shut off the engine and looked out the front window, down the hood of his car at the huddled figure shuddering in cold night air. His brow furrowed with confusion and worry as he stepped out of the car and called to the boy, “Stiles?”

His face was buried in his hands and his shoulders were trembling with quiet sobs.

Derek stepped over to his side and knelt down before him.

“Stiles, what’s wrong?” Derek asked, his voice quiet and comforting but full of fear.

“I’m sorry,” Stiles babbled, sniffing back his tears.

“Stiles, look at me,” Derek encouraged softly. He slid a finger beneath Stiles’ chin and gently tilted the boy’s face to meet his gaze. “What’s wrong?”

Stiles wiped away his tears and bit his quivering lip.

“Are you hurt?” Derek asked, slightly panicked.

Stiles shook his head. He drew in a deep breath and explained, “I tried to cook dinner so we could have a romantic night once you came home from work, but I turned my back for three seconds and the dog ate it all.”

Derek sighed and whispered, “Oh, babe, it’s okay.”

“No,” Stiles objected weakly. “I really wanted to do something special for you, but I couldn’t. I can’t do anything right.”

“That’s not true,” Derek argued. He reached forward and carefully took Stiles’ hand in his hand. He ran his fingers across the ridges of the boy’s knuckles before pressing a tender kiss to Stiles’ ring finger.

There was a reason behind his specificity. Before medical science discovered how the circulatory system worked, people believed that there was a vein that ran directly from the fourth finger on the left hand to the heart known as the _vena amoris_ , Latin for ‘the vein of love’. It was a little piece of trivia that amused Stiles and led to a tender gesture that always made Stiles smile. And when all else failed, it was a sign of dedication, the faintest trace of a kiss that lingered on his skin like a ring.

It was a sweet gesture that was uniquely theirs.

Stiles smiled weakly and muttered, “I really wanted to surprise you.”

“Well sitting on the pavement and crying is one way to surprise me,” Derek pointed out.

Stiles chuckled slightly. “I wanted today to be special.”

“It is,” Derek assured him. “Every day with you is special. Just because it’s Valentine’s Day, doesn’t mean I love you any more today or any less any other day. Chocolates, hearts and red roses don’t change how I feel about you.”

Stiles smiled, bowing his head slightly as he hid his blush.

“So, how about we go upstairs and cook dinner together?” Derek offered.

Stiles nodded.

Derek rose to his feet and offered his hand to the boy, helping Stiles to his feet before walking with him up to the loft.

He led the way into the kitchen and started to rummage through the pantry and cupboards. He tossed a few ingredients onto the benchtop and rummaged for a few trays before turning on the oven.

The rich aroma of Stiles’ meal filled the air and Derek inhaled deeply.

“Whatever it was you had in store for me it smells divine,” Derek purred as he stepped over to Stiles’ side and pulled him into his arms. “I bet it would have tasted just as good.”

He craned his neck and pressed a chaste kiss to Stiles’ lips.

“Ask Titus,” Stiles muttered with a harsh tone as he glared at the Great Dane that cowered in the doorway. “He’s the only one who got to taste it.”

Derek smirked.

They had decided to adopt a dog a few months ago. Stiles loved him because he reminded the boy of Derek: a big burly recue dog with a bad past but more than capable of love. Derek had let Stiles name him and Stiles had chosen the same name as Damian Wayne’s dog, Titus, who was named after one of Shakespeare’s characters, and so it was a name that catered to Derek too. And while Titus was still a puppy, he was mischievous and sometimes drove Stiles to breaking point, like he did tonight.

Titus whimpered quietly.

“I think he’s sorry,” Derek whispered.

“He should be,” Stiles growled.

“Stiles,” Derek said warningly. “You know he loves you. He just really wanted to be your official taste tester, and obviously it was a delicious meal.”

They heard Titus’s nails tap at the polished concrete as the puppy trotted away. He quickly returned with his favourite toy in his mouth, a floppy rabbit-shaped teddy with really long ears and legs that made it look more like a rag doll than an actual rabbit.

He carefully placed it at Stiles’ feet before hurrying back to the door and peeking into the kitchen.

Derek couldn’t help but smile. He looked at Stiles with puppy eyes that made his aventurine irises glitter in a way that Stiles couldn’t resist.

“Okay,” Stiles said quietly. “I forgive him. But he’s not getting any of our dinner this time.”

Derek leant forward and kissed Stiles.

“I’m thinking pizza,” Derek announced.

“I’m thinking you’re either a genius, a mind reader, or trying to get in my pants,” Stiles replied.

Derek met Stiles’ gaze, lifting his brow suggestively.

Stiles smirked.

“Dinner first,” Derek said firmly.

Derek often made meals from scratch – it was a lot healthier and sometimes tastier that way – but he was so hungry that he was willing to cut a few corners.

He burrowed through the pantry until he found the pre-made, store-bought pizza bases. He tore open the packet and set them on trays. He brought over the pizza sauce and toppings.

Stiles and Derek made a pizza each, making masterpieces of flavour and colour.

Derek put them in the oven and turned the timer on.

“Do you want to eat al fresco tonight?” Derek asked as he made his way out of the kitchen and into the closed off alcove that was their bedroom.

Titus followed him, tilting his head with curiosity as he trotted in his master’s footsteps.

“That sounds nice,” Stiles called after him, making a start on cleaning the dishes.

Derek stripped off his dress shirt and pants, tossing them in the hamper before changing into a loose V-neck shirt and a pair of sweatpants. He quickly returned to the kitchen to help Stiles clean up and put away the dishes.

“You know, only you can make that look sexy,” Stiles muttered as he looked Derek up and down.

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Derek said, slightly confused. He glanced over his shoulder at Stiles, smirking when he noticed the boy’s eyes were fixed on his ass.

Stiles gently gnawed the corner of his mouth, licking his lips ravenously.

Derek turned and looked at him, his brow raised and an unimpressed expression on his face.

Stiles smiled innocently.

Derek rolled his eyes and smirked as he stepped forward, silently edging his way across the room and sauntering up to Stiles’ side. He slid in between the boy and the bench, reaching back to turn off the stove before running his fingers across Stiles’ pale skin. He ran his fingertips over Stiles’ surprisingly-firm shoulders before trailing down his chest, following the ridges and seams of his muscles that were hidden beneath his shirt. He leant in close, his breath rolling across Stiles’ lips as he edged the boy backwards, pushing him back against the table. He was pleased by the surprised gasp which escaped Stiles’ lips as his hips met the wood and Derek pinned him in place.

Derek’s hands instinctively fell to Stiles’ hips. He tilted his chin, bringing their lips together and relieving the space that divided them.

Stiles laid back on the table, pulling Derek down with him. The boy moaned in ecstasy, deepening the kiss.

Derek struggled to catch his breath as they broke apart.

He clambered up onto the table, straddling Stiles’ slender waist.

Derek could taste the boy’s lips, the lingering sweetness of his saliva and the heat of his tongue which seemed to submit before his own. His breathing was broken and ragged as they parted for mere seconds.

He trailed his lips across Stiles’ jaw and up to Stiles’ ear, gently gnawing at the boy’s earlobe and eliciting a quiet whimper from him.

The timer on the oven finished, interrupting them.

Derek let out a sigh as he pulled back.

“I’ll dish if you take some cushions and a blanket out to the balcony,” Derek bargained.

“Deal,” Stiles whispered, pressing a soft kiss to Derek’s lips before leaving.

Derek made quick work of slicing the pizzas and setting them on a wooden board. He carried them out onto the balcony, shutting the door behind him so that Titus was left inside.

The puppy whimpered quietly before prancing away to play with his toys.

Derek smiled as he noticed the nest Stiles had made out of cushions and blankets.

The boy held up one edge of the blanket and welcomed Derek into the pile.

Derek smiled and sat down next to Stiles, setting the wooden board down before them and leaning back against the concrete wall to look up at the stars that filled the sky. The sky was a gorgeous pool of onyx, dusted with stars that reflected the lights of Beacon Hills like the scintillating surface of a lake.

Stiles laid back against the wall and curled up against Derek’s side as he whispered, “This is perfect.”

“Almost,” Derek muttered. “There is still one thing.”

“You promised no presents,” Stiles reminded him, because – as Derek had said a million times -  their love wasn’t defined by cheesy gifts like chocolates, roses and hearts and they had everything they needed so practical presents would be redundant.

“Says he who tried to make dinner to surprise me,” Derek pointed out.

“That wasn’t a present,” Stiles argued. “That was a gesture of love.”

“Then I am also making a gesture of love,” Derek whispered. He reached forward and picked up Stiles’ hand, gently running his fingers across Stiles’ knuckles. “We’ve been together for five years now and I just want you to know how much you mean to me. I’m not very good at using words to describe my feelings but I just want you to know that the past five of years that we’ve been together have been the best in my life. For the first time, I’m happy and I feel safe. For the first time, I have found someone that I love with all my heart and who I know loves me back. You’re more than I could have ever hoped for and better than anything I deserve. But you deserve the very best, Stiles, and I hope that I can be that for you.”

He lifted Stiles’ hand and pressed a kiss to Stiles’ ring finger.

“I’m not saying this because it’s Valentine’s Day; I think about saying this to you every day and I guess that today’s the day.” He looked up and met Stiles’ gaze as he whispered, “Stiles Stilinski, will you marry me?”

Stiles looked as if he were about to cry. He cupped Derek’s cheeks and leant forward, bringing his lips to Derek’s.

The kiss was tender and loving.

They drew it out as long as they could before very slowly pulling back.

Stiles rested his forehead against Derek’s and whispered, “Yes.”

Derek sighed with relief, cupping Stiles’ cheek and bringing their lips together again.

“I love you,” Derek whispered, tears threatening to fall past his eyelashes.

Stiles smiled, pressing another tender kiss to Derek’s lips as he replied, “I love you too, Sourwolf.”

**Author's Note:**

> celestialvoid-fanfiction.tumblr.com


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